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Comment by afarrell | Hacker News Reader

Note that in this era, if a farmer wanted to move west in search of cheaper/richer farmland, you would do it in the winter. Without paved roads, loading all of your stuff into a cart and driving it in the summer would mean you could get stuck in the mud. It was a far better option to load a sled in the winter.

The King's troops, growing up in a climate where snow doesn't (well, in 2018. I don't know about 1756) really stick to the ground, probably indeed would not have expected this.

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A frost fair was held on the Thames that very winter of 1776 [1], so I imagine the British were familiar with hard winters.

The problem was more that the professionals couldn't predict the actions of highly motivated amateurs.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames_frost_fairs

Oh interesting. I assume some combination of climate change (including the Little Ice Age?) and a greater urban heat island have made the difference. People in my office (in London) had some amusing reactions to snow that would not have closed school where I grew up (near Albany, NY).

FWIW those levels of snow wouldn't have closed schools in the UK 20 years ago either.

Primary Schools in particular are very risk averse now.

There's an old joke about American military doctrine:

The Soviets: "One of the serious problems in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine."

The Nazis: "The reason that the American army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos and the American army practices chaos on a daily basis."

America: "If we don't know what we are doing, the enemy certainly can't anticipate our future actions!"

It's my recollection people heading west to Oregon and beyond would aim for making it to Independence Rock, WY before independence day in the summer to avoid having to attempt traversing the Rockies in winter.

In the era in question westward movement was towards and over the Adirondacks. Formidable obstacle for ox-drawn sleds, but nothing like the Rockies...

Broadly correct, though I think you mean the Berkshires, not the Adirondacks. Albany -> Rochester is not mountainous, which is why the erie canal went that route.

Specifically, the Mohawk Valley. Still 600+ locks, but tenable in 1825.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohawk_Valley

Is that really the reason? If you are heading west because you want to farm, wouldn't it be better to leave in winter and arrive in time for planting season than leave in summer and wait 9 months to plant?

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